1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, systems that use an electronic program table called an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) composed of metadata relating to broadcast programs have come into widespread use. For example, EPG information is provided by being transmitted from a broadcaster together with a broadcast wave. EPG information is also provided via the Internet. By using EPG information provided in this way, functions such as changing channel to a program designated by the user on the EPG and reserving a program selected by the user on the EPG for recording are implemented in an apparatus such as a television receiver, a mobile telephone, and a PC (Personal Computer). A function that uses various information included in the EPG information to automatically specify and record programs that the user is likely to enjoy is also realized in a digital recorder.
EPG information is composed of program information relating to a plurality of programs. A plurality of fields are included in the information relating to one program. As one example, a field showing the program title, a field showing the broadcast time of the program, a field in which text showing a summary of the program content is written, and a field in which the cast members of the program are listed are included. Note that for the present specification, the expression “cast member” includes anyone who appears in a program or movie being broadcast, such as an actor, presenter, newsreader, guest, band or musical act, or comic performer. Out of the fields mentioned above, fields provided in EPG information for specific information, such as the program title and the broadcast start time, are decided in advance. On the other hand, fields provided in the EPG information for the cast members of the program, text giving a summary of the program, and the like are not decided. This means that to specify a program in which a particular person appears, it is necessary to first specify the field in which the cast members are listed.
As one example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-60567 discloses an information processing apparatus that carries out morphological analysis on EPG information and compares the analysis result with a specified list pattern of cast member names to efficiently extract information on cast members of programs. As another example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H11-164223 discloses an information processing apparatus that generates data in which identification codes are appended to EPG information by actions carried out by an operator to enable desired information to be identified.